I almost never write a review for books I don’t finish but I have this to say: the reason I haven’t read another book in three weeks is because I have been trying, and failing, to finish reading this book. I got bogged down in the history, I didn’t care about the characters and it always felt like heavy lifting to even pick the damned thing up after a while. When it was due at the library I returned it unfinished. I’m aware that after Cryptonomicon the bar may have been set unreasonably high, but this book just wasn’t any good to read.